The Visitor
by alicat13
Summary: Harper and Alex just moved into their new apartment and are settling into adult life as room-mates but what happens when a figure from their past comes in to shake things up?
1. The case of the missing thread

Chapter 1

"Alex!" I bellowed in the general direction of my room-mate's bedroom in our new apartment; receiving no reply I huffed and put down my project to go searching for her. I was immersed in my new sewing project, a new dress for the upcoming work party, and had misplaced a vital blue sparkly thread which I needed desperately to finish it.

Since I had hit my twenties I'd toned down the crazy outfits – no more themed accessories or over-the-top hats. But I'd still continued with sewing, managing to secure a job as a seamstress for my favourite designer, Algenio Pucci. As I marched up the stairs, avoiding cardboard boxes which needed unpacking and shouting Alex's name so loud it would annoy the neighbours, I bumped into a warm chest.

"Sorry, sorry!" I shouted, unusually loud, keeping my gaze firmly on the floor and trying not to blush.

"No need to worry, Harper! No harm done." Mason replied in his adorable British accent, "Are you okay? You seem a little stressed." He was still dressed in his pyjamas, well half of them, and I was finding it hard not to glance at his bare chest. Ever since he had taken to walking around half dressed I had developed a small crush on him, not that I would ever act on it; he was Alex's long term boyfriend! Still, I was allowed to look.

"I'm fine, just lost some thread. Where's Alex?" I asked, trying to compose myself and speak normally.

"Probably still asleep" he replied, pulling a face and walking past me down the stairs. When I got to Alex and Mason's bedroom the door was wide open and Alex was sitting up, reading an art magazine and eating toast. She was dropping crumbs all over the duvet, a sight I'm sure would have agitated Mason.

"Hey, Alex?" I started, standing in the doorway, "Have you seen my blue sparkly thread? I really need it to finish the dress for the party." Alex took her time chewing a mouthful of toast, staring at me blankly. Then just when I thought she was going to reply, she took another bite of toast. "Alex!" I shouted accusingly.

"Geez! I haven't seen your stupid thread." She retorted, still chewing her toast. When I rolled my eyes and turned to leave she spoke up with a more apologetic tone, "Wait, I can make you some more if you want." She reached for her wand which was sitting on her bedside table and was about to wave it when I objected.

"Ah, no. You don't have to do the whole magic thing – you know it weirds me out. I'll just go look for it like a normal person." At that moment the phone started ringing and Alex waved her wand to turn it onto speaker. I was just walking away from her room as she greeted the person ringing, still with a mouthful of toast.

Alex had definitely got lazier since she became a full wizard, even though it seemed impossible that she could have gotten lazier than she was before. I went back to searching for the missing thread; as I reached the kitchen the smell of freshly cooked pancakes hit me. Mason was standing at the cooker, flipping pancakes, not having bothered to put on a shirt. "Wow, those smell amazing!" I declared, all thought of the missing thread forgotten.

"Thanks, do you want one? They're blueberry – my speciality." Mason replied, placing the last pancake on a piled up plate. I nodded as he brought the pancakes over to the table, giving me a heart-melting smile as he did so.

I finished my third pancake, I was feeling extra hungry that morning, when Alex descended from upstairs. She was clutching her un-brushed hair, a worried look on her face. "Alright, darling?" Mason enquired as he put down his fork and got up to carry the plates to the kitchen.

"I've got, uh, some important news for you guys." She said with a grave look at me and Mason. I was starting to get that worried feeling in the pit of my stomach. "What? What is it? Who was that on the phone?" I asked, frantically going through theories of what catastrophe could have occurred.

"It was Max."


	2. Trip Down Memory Lane

Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews and story alerts! This is my first fanfiction so it made my day when I got a review :). Eeek! I'm so excited about writing this and have got a truckload of ideas about where it could go – let me know if you have any ideas as well! Right, let's get on with chapter 2!**

Woah. Max was the one calling? I hadn't heard his name in years – the last time I saw him was a day I'd never forget... "What did he want?" Mason interrupted my reverie with his blunt question. I turned my head to look at Alex, she still looked a little shell-shocked from speaking to Max. So obviously the first thing that popped into my head was someone must have died. Then after that maybe it was a serious accident, or a terminal disease, or news of the apocalypse!

Just before I let any more frantic thoughts pass across my mind Alex told us what he actually said, "The subshop's gone out of business." Both mine and Mason's jaws dropped open; that's just as bad as all the scenarios I had thought of in my head – my past was eroding away. The subshop was a big part of my childhood and now it had gone, just like a lot of things in my life had. I guess it's just a normal part of growing up and leaving the past behind.

Jerry and Theresa had given the subshop to Max when he was old enough and they had moved off to Florida, so I wasn't surprised when Alex told us that Max had been evicted. I was surprised, however, to hear that he'd be staying with us until he found a new place to live.

It was going to be weird to see Max again. After Alex and I moved to college and Justin took over as Headmaster of Wiz-Tech, Max had basically cut himself off from the rest of his family. His reasoning was that he wanted to adapt to life as a mortal, without any magic around him. I could totally understand his point of view, magic freaks me out just as much as the next mortal, but his siblings didn't understand. They thought he resented them for being the only non-wizard after the competition. I was the only one who understood why; at least I think I did.

"What?" Mason's loud voice yet again broke through my trip down memory lane, "And did you think to discuss this with me before you said yes to him?" This seemed like the start of a typical 'who-wears-the-trousers' fight between the couple so I decided to retreat to my room, picking up my sewing project as I went so I could continue it away from Alex and Mason who I predicted were going to start yelling at each other in a second.

As I shut my bedroom door on the gradually increasing volume of voices downstairs I let out a sigh and sunk onto my purple duvet. Now I had the chance to re-live the last time I saw Max with no interruptions. I remember it was just before me and Alex were set to move to college, we had packed our bags and loaded up the car, all gave our tearful goodbyes and said how much we'd miss each other. Alex had kissed Mason goodbye, holding onto him for as long as she could. Jerry and Theresa stood on the front step of the subshop with their arms around one another, whispering about how they couldn't believe Alex had gotten into college.

We'd just set off, waving to the family I considered to be mine as well as Alex's until we reached the end of Waverly Place and turned the corner. It wasn't until we stopped at a gas station that I realised I'd left one of my bags behind. "Alex, we have to go back!" I protested when she groaned at me for having forgotten it.

"Ugh, I can't be bothered. We've already said our goodbyes and I don't want to risk smudging my make-up again." After pleading with her for a few minutes I realised she wasn't going to budge and decided to walk back myself while she finished filling the car up. It wasn't that far, we'd only been on the road for a couple of minutes.

When I reached the apartment it seemed deserted, it was a kind of relief as I didn't want to embarrass myself by having to say goodbye to everyone again. I scoured the living room for my forgotten bag with no luck so I moved on to look in my room. I opened the door and saw Max standing in my room with his back to me. I wondered what he was doing in my empty room so greeted him with a questioning, "Hey?"

He swivelled round quickly, I obviously startled him. "Oh hey! Harper … why are you back?" He had a guilty look on his face and I still can't figure out why. I pointed at my forgotten bag sitting on my desk and asked him why he was in my room. "Oh, y'know, I noticed you left your bag and thought you'd be back to get it." His answer had several loopholes in it but I didn't question them, instead I went over to my desk and picked up my bag.

I made my way to the door, bag in hand when I was stopped by Max's voice, "Wait, don't I get a goodbye hug?" He stood with his arms open, showing me his best puppy dog face. I sighed, smiled and went over to hug him. It was a short, simple hug; kinda awkward I thought. As we pulled away I caught his eye, he looked like something was troubling him. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. Listen Harper, I need to tell you something." Now he looked really nervous. This wasn't as simple as I thought retrieving my bag would be. "Now I know I'm your best friend's little brother," uh-oh, this didn't sound good, "and I know you don't really see me in _that way. _But I'm sixteen now and there's only two years between us which isn't really that big if you think about it, in the grand scheme of things and all..." He started mumbling at this point and running his hands through his wavy hair.

"Get to the point Max!" I was a bit worried about what his point might be and I wanted to keep this conversation as short as possible.

"I like you, okay?" he said, stopping me short. "I've always liked you. I've had a crush on you for years but I never said anything before because I thought you wouldn't care." Now he looked fully embarrassed, face flushed red, eyes on the floor.

I can't exactly remember what I said next but it was something along the lines of "You're too young for me, it won't work right now, I'm off to college." Was that really what I said? Ugh, I can't believe I was so mean! Thinking back, he really wasn't too young for me. If only he'd told me sooner. Hopefully Max wouldn't still think of me as a cold-hearted bitch. I covered my face with my hands in dread, maybe he still hated me after all these years. He must be at least twenty now, I wondered if he had changed at all.


	3. The Mysterious Suitcase

**Chapter 3 – The Mysterious Suitcase**

**Howdy! This was certainly a difficult chapter for me, it's still a little shorter than I wanted it to be but ah well. Better something than nothing at all! It's exam period at the mo, so I probably shouldn't be writing at all :P. Good news is I'll be able to update after wednesday – my last exam (Eeek!)**

I woke up on the day of Max's arrival, still worried about what he thought of me. I'd imagined a million different ways our reunion could go, most of them negative. The rest were awkward at best. Mason and Alex certainly hadn't helped improve my mood; they'd been arguing most of the night at top volume. I hadn't heard anything being smashed which was a relief. I'd usually walk into the living room to see the lamp broken. Again.

Instead, that morning I walked into the living room to find a full suitcase on the floor. Automatically I thought the worst, after hearing Alex and Mason's heated argument last night, a thought struck me that maybe it was their last one. But who was leaving? Mason or Alex?

Rushing around the apartment to find one of them, I ran into Mason coming out of the bathroom, still in a towel. He looked a little confused and I realised I must have looked a little strange, running around the apartment, wide eyed and desperately looking for anyone. So I tried to make my next question as casual as possible, to deflect suspicion, "Er.. who's suitcase is that in the living room?"

"Oh, that's Max's. He got here earlier this morning. I thought that would have woken you up." I was trying to maintain eye contact with Mason and focus on the words coming out of his mouth, though it was hard to when he was practically half naked. "He's in the spare room now if you want to see him, though he may be asleep." My mind suddenly pieced together what he had said and I was surprised to find myself feeling nervous about seeing Max again.

Walking up to the spare room, I could feel my heart thumping quicker. I tried to tell myself to relax, that he wasn't going to hate me. He probably doesn't even remember. But that little voice in the back of my mind was nagging at me, telling me that he's going to despise me. By the time I reached the spare room I'd got myself so worked up that I had to stop and take a few breaths. Really, where had this irrational worry come from? It was just Max. Goofy, immature, sweet Max who wouldn't hurt a fly.

I was hovering outside for a while, working up the nerve to knock on the door. Eventually I stood facing the door and took a breath when it opened. Max stood right in front of me. Feeling awkward I just froze up. Here was a guy I hadn't seen in years, the last time being a painful experience for both of us, and I had made our meeting ten times more awkward than it could have been just by being my usual hesitant self.

It seemed as though we were standing there forever, my mind trying to calculate what to say as he regarded me with a confused expression plastered on his face. "Hey Harper" he greeted me, looking thoroughly amused; at which point I realised how short the awkward silence had been even though it seemed to drag on forever when I was actually in it. Then he did something that completely caught me off guard; he hugged me. I was expecting something like a dirty look or a snide comment, definitely not this! When he pulled away I noticed how tall he was, he's certainly not the same sixteen year old I turned down all those years ago.

We did the whole polite small talk routine, both avoiding topics we didn't want to discuss. For him it was becoming recently unemployed, for me it was the awkward goodbye when we were younger. Who knows, maybe he was avoiding that topic too. Though while we were chit-chatting I zoned out a few times just thinking about how much he'd changed: his hair was a bit longer and wavier; he'd gotten skinnier, I thought he couldn't have gotten any more skinny; he was looking a lot more mature, he obviously hadn't shaved in the past couple of days and had a shadow of stubble across the lower half of his face; and, on the whole, he'd gotten way more attractive, y'know in a completely objective way.

Max had walked back into the spare room and opened his suitcase, I followed and had a nosey look around. When the suitcase opened I saw it was stuffed full of a random assortment of objects; from what I could see he had packed an empty fishbowl, one tennis racket, a pogo stick and other strange items. I laughed and asked what they were all for. "Oh, just the essentials" he replied nonchalantly. I didn't question him this time, feeling reassured that he was still the same Max.

After the awkward small talk routine had ended, we were able to banter and joke with each other just like we always had. In a way, it was like the years we hadn't spoken to each other just disappeared.


	4. Photocovered room

**Hello lovely people of the internet! Yes, I do still exist. This chapter is a wee bit longer than the others, considering it took me so much longer to write, I would think so! Anyway, I hope you enjoy all the Marper feels, let me know what you think!**

**Also, my tumblr is confusionorclarity (. ) I post things on there that I think you might like :) Another also, unfortunately I won't be able to update for a little while as I'm going on holiday – but do not despair! I'll write more when I'm there and then publish it when I get back. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

I had spent most of the next couple of days holed up in my room, working on the dress for my work party; the sparkly blue thread had rolled under the sofa. Once I had found it after my morning spent with Max I quickly got to work. After all, the party was the next day and I still hadn't figured out what embellishment I was going to put on the waistline!

Of course, my mind was still churning with thoughts of our visitor. In hindsight, I found it strange how he was so calm and collected. He had just lost his livelihood, the only thing he strived for in his life, and now he was acting like it didn't matter. I remember when he found out he was going to be in charge of the subshop, the way he had thought of nothing else for the next week but plans for improving every small or seemingly insignificant detail. He didn't mention his plans for the future when I'd spoken to him, not even whether he was looking for an apartment. I concluded that maybe he was feeling stressed about the eviction and having to change his life so drastically. He probably didn't want to get into a serious conversation. That was fine with me, even though I always used to try to get people to open up to me and tell me their problems so I could help them and give them advice, this time I was going to let it go. I barely knew this version of Max that had walked into my life again. I knew the sixteen year old him. So if he didn't want to tell me what was on his mind, I was fine with it. If this new Max could be laid-back and not have a care in the world, so could I.

I finished the dress well into the early hours of the morning, having been so focused on completing it I had no desire to sleep. So with a colossal yawn, I hung up my dress on my wardrobe door and took a moment to admire the product of my toil. I let a smile adorn my face, feeling unexpectedly excited in spite of my tiredness. Laying in bed, the only thing I could think about was the party the next day; every time I closed my eyes a flood of images, sights and sounds of the looming party floated behind my eyelids. There was no way I was getting any sleep. So, still in my pyjamas, I trundled down to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

The atmosphere downstairs always creeps me out in the middle of the night, something about the possibility of the shadows being any sort of threatening figure just gives me chills. I focused on my destination, getting some water from the kitchen, and ignored all the imposing shadows as I made my way downstairs in the near-darkness. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I passed the living room and saw a glow coming from underneath the door. With a tentative knock, I opened the door and went in.

Max was stretched out on the sofa, his chino-clad legs up on the arm which he moved for me as I approached him. Aware of my bare face and thin pyjamas, I felt exposed and under-dressed so went to fold my arms over my chest. "What are you doing up so late?" To that he replied with a simple sigh, so I prompted him, "Too much on your mind?" He nodded and I replied with a "me too." The tiredness was etched on his face as he slumped back into the sofa.

"So where have you been all day?" I had been waiting for him to say something but the silence had stretched on, so I had to be nosey which I promised myself I wouldn't do.

"I was uh, I was out." He said it casually, picking some fluff off his shirt, so I could tell he was hiding something and didn't want to go into it. "What have you been up to all day?" Now he was just being polite whilst trying to get the attention away from him. I called him on it right away.

"Nuh-uh, don't change the subject! What are you hiding?" I knew I was poking into none of my business but I couldn't help myself, it's in my nature. "Have you got a secret girlfriend?" I don't know why that's the first question that popped into my head and I swear it came out in a more accusatory tone than it was meant to. When he shook his head I asked, "Secret boyfriend?" At that he laughed and I felt the tension around us lift. "So go on, tell me."

"Ugh, okay. Harper, if you must know, I was apartment hunting. But I uh, didn't have any luck." Max looked dejected and I kind of regretted asking the question. "I just want to get it sorted, y'know, so I can get out of here." He sighed and closed his eyes, so he didn't see the crestfallen look on my face. I was thinking of how to respond to that, whether to be insulted that he didn't want to stay with us or sympathetic. I was about to offer up some words of encouragement when he continued his thought, "I just don't wanna be a burden to anyone, y'know?" He looked at me out of the corner of his eye so I nodded, not sure what to say to that either. This was a strange development for me, usually I had too much to say. Suddenly I had no idea how to talk to Max. I guess I was struck by how much he was opening up to me; he had seemed so laid-back earlier. I realised this was a positive thing, that he felt comfortable enough around me to talk about serious things.

If we were going to get into the serious stuff I decided to push it further and get down to what I really wanted to know; after some tactical conversation involving me dropping hints and gently urging the conversation to where I wanted it to go, I decided it wasn't working and asked Max outright, "So why did you cut yourself off from Alex and Justin?" He looked a little shell-shocked from the blunt question but answered it anyway.

"Well, there were a bunch of reasons really. But I think the main one was the magic thing. Once I didn't have it, I realised how much I missed it. How I was so ... jealous of Justin and Alex for having it. I dunno, that's probably why I cut myself off from it all. Just focused on the subshop, and that didn't even turn out right!"

"So that's why you didn't talk to Alex or Justin?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well you could have still talked to me." It was meant to sound light-hearted and joky but there was an ounce of hurt in my voice that even I was surprised at.

"I know, Harper. I'm sorry."

After that we managed to turn the conversation into more light-hearted waters, making jokes about living in New York and recalling old memories. For a while it seemed as if Max had always been here, as if the years when he cut himself off never existed. I found it so easy to talk and joke with Max but somehow we wound up right back where we started – at the serious stuff. We got on to the topic of Alex and Mason, "So they have a lot of arguments, huh? Can't be easy living with them all the time." Max said, looking at me with a hint of sympathy behind his smile. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I felt compelled to open up to him like he had opened up to me. To tell him my biggest secret – the thing I'd kept locked away behind my bubbly facade, the thing weighing me down and pressing painfully on my chest on a daily basis.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Wow, this feels like we're back at school." I scowled at him for that comment and he continued, "I mean, of course. You can tell me anything."

"It's just, it's been on my mind a lot, it's troubling me, and I just need to tell someone. To get it off my chest." I paused then, working up the nerve to tell Max my big secret. I considered chickening out and lying by telling him something else, but of course I couldn't think of something that quickly. "I'm in love with Mason." The pure shock that appeared on his features caused me to feel instantly ashamed, "At least, I think so." I tried to make it sound less dramatic than it was the first time.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, well. It's kinda one of those things I can't control. I don't know why and I know I really shouldn't. I haven't acted on it, though! I would never do that to Alex; she's my best friend."

I waited anxiously for his response as he processed the information. I could practically see the clockwork of his mind ticking away behind his eyes. "But..." Max turned his head, still in his thinking mode, "he's a _werewolf._" He said the last word with a hint of disgust that didn't go unnoticed by me. So I laughed.

"_That's _your response? I wasn't expecting that. Maybe some stern words or a look of contempt. But not that!"

"What? I thought you hated all that magical stuff." Max was chuckling too, probably in response to my outburst of nerve-induced hysterics.

"Well if I did, I wouldn't be living with Alex, huh?"

Thankfully, after our long serious talk we were able to go back to reminiscing about old times, most of our sentences beginning with, "remember that time?" Somehow we got onto the subject of my wacky fashion choices when I was a teenager.

"Oh! Remember how you used to wear those crazy outfits all the time?" Max asked humorously, one arm now up on the back of the sofa, his whole body tilted towards me.

"Hey!" I replied, swatting at his arm.

"No, no, I liked them!" he replied with an adorable smile, his eyes wrinkling with amusement.

"Oh!" I said, rather loudly and enthusiastically, an idea popping into my head. Max gave me a confused look, the smile failing to leave his lips. "Come with me" I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up from the sofa.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Max laughed

"You'll see." I led him to my bedroom door. When we stepped over the threshold of my room, Max stopped for a moment and looked around in awe. "What is it?" I asked. Max was still tracing the walls of my room with his eyes; I realised he was looking at the copious amount of decoration gracing every available space of my room. Most of it was photographs and designs for clothes I was working on, but there was also a vast collection of ornaments and candles which, I thought, made my room look like the kind of place a fairy would live – straight out of a storybook. I had gotten so used to it I forgot the effect it could have on people who had never seen it. I chuckled a little bit at Max's amazed expression, at which he realised what he must look like and turned to face me, "Sorry, it's just – wow. Your room is really cool." I smiled at the compliment.

"Actually, this is what I wanted to show you" I directed him to the dress hanging on my wardrobe door, "I just finished it today."

"You made this?" Max asked, looking at me with impressed eyes. I nodded and he smiled, "You never cease to amaze me, Harper." Luckily he was gazing at my creation and so didn't see the blush appear on my cheeks.

"I actually, uh, made it for this party I've got to go to tomorrow. For work."

"Who's your date?" he asked, teasingly.

"Oh, no one. Going all on my lonesome." I went for a light-hearted reply, "Why, you offering?"

"Actually, I am."

I was surprised at that and the only response I could think of was, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, you don't have to say yes. Y'know, if you don't want to." I could tell I had offended him with my disbelief.

"Of course! I mean, that'd be great. Thanks." I placed my hand on his arm in a reassuring way and he smiled at me. I knew I'd avoided an awkward repeat of what had happened when were younger and I'd rejected him.

With that natural pause in the conversation, Max went back to surveying the photo-covered walls. Something grabbed his attention and he went to stand over by my desk, "Oh, hey – here's one of me!" It was a picture of him at sixteen, pulling a goofy face at the camera. I remember the day it was taken so clearly, we were all having a picnic in the park and I had brought my camera. It was such a simple and enjoyable day, every time I looked at that photo I got the same summer feeling of being young and content.

"Yeah, I always liked that picture" I said, remembering.

"I didn't know you kept it all this time" he said, quietly and secretly, turning his face to look at me. I noticed his movement out of the corner of my eye and turned my head, too. We were standing so close to each other, I could see the tiny freckles on his nose, both locked eyes and neither moving or attempting to say anything. It was then I realised the intimacy of the situation and dragged my eyes away from his to look back at the photo, interrupting the moment and feeling strangely disappointed.

"We should probably get some sleep." I said, my voice sounding cold and distant even to my own ears.

"Yeah," Max nodded, "I'll, uh, see you tomorrow." He walked out of my room, but not before giving me an small, awkward smile. I went to sleep that night feeling as if I'd lost something, as if part of me were unfinished. Then I realised that I hadn't thought of Mason at all since I shared my secret with Max.


End file.
